Association for Behavior Analysis International

Behavior analysis principles have been exhaustively replicated and applied, as we're well aware. The sustainability community, however, is frequently not aware of the full scope of our science. Climate change exemplifies the tragedy of the commons with its delay discounting: rampant greenhouse gas emissions for short-term reinforcers, externalizing and delaying the mammoth aversive consequences. Similarly, "choice architecture" and other portions of behavioral economics - a significant part of the sustainability effort - are built on learning principles. In this symposium, we'll examine where our principles have successfully been incorporated - and where they are overlooked, misused, or ignored. Through more interdisciplinary collaboration, behavior analysis has the opportunity to build significantly on its existing contributions to the critical challenge of climate change mitigation.

Bachelor's or master's level

The speaker is a behavior analyst working as a research psychologist at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies and Energy & Efficiency Institute. She will share her experience working on issues related to sustainability in an interdisciplinary research environment. In particular, she will discuss opportunities for (and progress toward) integrating behavior analysis principles in two areas of energy and transportation research: eco-feedback and eco-driving. Eco-feedback--providing people with information about their resource consumption with the aim of promoting sustainable behavior--is a strategy pioneered by behavior analysts in the late 70s-early 80s, but since then largely abandoned by behavior analysts and left to the more cognitive-oriented fields of environmental psychology and human-computer interaction. This talk will introduce a theory of eco-feedback that builds on behavior analysis principles and suggest opportunities for behavior analysts to get involved in eco-feedback research and initiatives. Another area discussed will be eco-driving--driver behaviors that increase vehicle fuel efficiency. This is an area of research that has been dominated by engineers and transportation researchers, with more attention to vehicle behavior than human behavior. Additional examples of integrating behavior analysis principles, theories, and methodologies will be reviewed briefly.

B. F. Skinner's 1981 Selection by Consequences was a call for us to use the science of behavior to meliorate world problems. With emerging research, models, and practices of the last 20 years, more behavior analysts are directing applied programs toward cultural problems such as poverty, education, organizational safety, and climate change. For five years, the work of interdisciplinary, cooperative groups at Fresno State has led to administrative support for an Institute of Water and Sustainability. The function of this institute is to coordinate research across colleges, ensure best practices on campus through Facilities, coordinate student and facility projects, develop a sustainability minor, and to educate and interact with the greater community. The use of behavior analytic principles is seen as integral to our work, has been well accepted by group members from a wide variety of backgrounds, and has enhanced our outcomes.